Quilled Injustice
by Eusebihurst
Summary: Manic the Hedgehog is part of a garage band with Scourge, Shadow, and his brother Sonic. After a series of murders takes place, the blame is projected onto them - and perhaps not by mistake. Worse, the most criminally insane serial killer to ever walk upon Mobius is free from prison, and he's after one thing - blood. Rated M for consistent strong language and violence.
1. An Introduction, and Liberty

Mornin'.

I don't own the song, characters or locations. They all belong to their respective owners.

( * * * )

"Not... much... further...heh..."

An ominous figure waded wearily through a rusted sewage pipe that had a tiny diameter of less than two feet. It was filthy, and the smell was enough to knock someone off their feet.

But none of this mattered to him. For this pipe was his escape. He clawed his way through it, his blood red eyes staring forward. Looking for an exit. Looking for his escape.

Then, he saw it. It was difficult to see in the night, but after crawling through a half-mile of hell, it was there. Right in front of him.

His mouth curled into a terrifying smile. He dove head first out of the tube, into the river where the raw sewage would be deposited. Clambering onto a river bank then on to dry land, he lay flat on his back. Then he grinned. Then laughed. He laughed uncontrollably. He was free. He was liberated. He was unleashed.

( * * * )

"You are the voice of reason that I can't escape,

Cut me down a thousand times a day,

I don't need you anymore,

I don't need you anymore.

I trusted you and there was no one else,

All you did was make me doubt myself,

Don't believe you anymore,

Don't believe you anymore.

You bled me out,

You tore me down,

Your time has come,

You can go -

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Lie!

All my faith's been wasted, wasted

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Lie!

I don't need you to save me anymore!

I'm fragile, but I'm not a fool,

I won't hear another word from you.

You won't hurt me anymore,

You won't hurt me anymore.

The hand I held just held me down,

It took so long, now I know -

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Lie!

All my faith's been wasted, wasted

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Lie!

I won't sit here and take this anymore!

You can say anything that you wanna say,

But my attention's long gone and turned away!

You're such a lie,

You were only the enemy,

Everything you are, I will deny!

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Lie!

I'll just come out and say it, say it,

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Lie!

All my faith's been wasted, wasted

'Cause you're a liar, liar

Liar!

I don't need you to save me anymore -

I don't need you to save me anymore -

I don't need you to save me anymore!"

( * * * )

Wow, that was hard. Damnit, I'm spent. Sonic thought we should do a cover for our time on the stage, so here we are. The fact we got through it was a miracle; we'd barely practised.

I was in a band known as the Rising Quills. Don't ask me what the hell it's supposed to mean. Sonic was the lead guitarist, and my twin brother - even though we looked nothing alike. It's weird, I mean I don't think either of us is adopted. The jokes we made about that were countless. He'd always stand up for me - or anyone else who he saw in trouble. I always made sure to do the same for him; he was my only brother after all.

On the mic was Scourge, who had a comically large ego and is the guy who came up with our name. You'd be forgiven for thinking he was a dick if you'd just met him, but he meant well deep down. Even he doesn't know what it means, but I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with my spiked up hair. Maybe it's not and I should stop being so self-conscious. I dunno.

On bass was Shadow. His role suited him pretty well, as he wasn't the loudest of individuals. It's not like he didn't know to socialise, but you'd have to talk to him first most of the time. Saying that, you certainly wouldn't have to punch him first if you wanted a fight. He was quick to temper, and often had a scowl on his face. Still, he was funny when he wanted to be, especially when denting Scourge's ego.

Finally, there was me, Manic, on drums. There was just something so entertaining about beating the shit out of something and have it make such a satisfying noise in return. That's how I started anyway. Now that I know how to properly beat the shit of them, it's even better.

"Hey Sonic, I heard that chord you missed out there." exclaimed Scourge in the back.

"Hey come on man, I got four hours of sleep last night. Cut me a break"

Scourge laughed. "You have a midnight smack?" That was the phrase where we lived for... you know what, you can figure it out for yourself.

"Actually, it's supposed to be a really good tranquilizer." I pointed out.

"You'd know this?" Scourge replied.

"Heh, he'd know that" Said Shadow, grinning.

"Anyway, getting back on topic, I never miss notes when I play lead guitar, Sonic"

"Yeah, just a shame you're missing a pair of balls" Sonic responded. Shadow and I laughed hard, and thinking quickly I grabbed my drumsticks to create the "badum-tishhh" noise on my set.

"Yeah, whatever" was Scourge's only response.

We were just some garage band, really. We wrote songs, some of them even had meaning, but we were in it just for a hobby. None of us thought we'd become big time musicians and no one planned it to be that way (except maybe Scourge).

Hell, Sonic was the only one who owned his own house; I still lived with our parents. Well, parent, our dad died while we were young. I still think our mother did a great job in our upbringing on her own, despite that.

( * * * )

I was on my way back to Sonic's house after our gig, walking through Station Square City. I wasn't in the huge and densely populated CBD unfortunately, I was in its suburbs. Jesus, this place was run down. I'd been here before, but I was always taken aback just by how rough it was. I thought where I lived was bad.

Moving on, I came up to the more rich households. Detached houses were everywhere, and because there was a lot of work on offer in Station Square, it meant that the house prices would have been through the roof. Huh, I wish I lived he-

Shit, I bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, you dick!"

"Sorry dude, I - oh, it's you."

Silver the Hedgehog.

"Manic, just watch where you're walking. Jesus Christ," He said, mockingly.

"Shut up Silver, who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Yeah, keep walking or I'll break your legs, you scum."

"Try me, ya piece of shit," I replied aggressively, spreading my arms.

"Get lost. Get out of my neighbourhood, valley boy" Silver said back, walking off and mocking my accent.

"Your neighbourhood? Everybody here hates you!" I shouted after him. He flipped me off in response.

There was no secret in the animosity between me and Silver. Ever since I first met him, he held something against me. I don't really know why, but he always treated me differently to everyone else. Was he jealous? Why would he be jealous of me? His parents are rich as all hell, and I'm nothing special to be honest.

He'd do things like hide my clothes after P.E, draw dicks on my coursework, or create insults that targeted my personal being. All petty stuff, yet I always tried to be nice to him.

It all boiled down to one of our final days in high school, when he effectively ruined my chances of getting a girl I'd been after for ages. He spread a rumour that I was stalking her on Facebius. Simple, but effective.

When I found out it was him, I had no intention of physically attacking him. Verbally, definitely. He had other ideas. He slapped me straight across my face. What did I do? I headbutted him, broke his nose.

I was allowed to finish my exams, but both of us were banned from the high school prom. I was pissed about that. So was he. It was his own fault.

To think, that was four years ago. He still hasn't gotten over it, clearly. So long as I never see him again, I'm fine.

( * * * )

We met back up in Sonic's house later on. Sonic was on his phone, Scourge was watching football [Soccer, sorry I'm English] on TV and Shadow was sat laid out on the sofa using a pair of hand grips.

"Hey bro, I thought you'd never turn up!"

"Sorry man, I got caught up in somethin'."

"Woah, you looked pissed, what's up?"

I sighed. "I had an argument with Silver"

"Silver?!" he replied, taken aback.

"That bastard" Said Shadow, without moving. A few seconds later, he sat up. "If anyone here sees him again, tell me where he is and I'll beat the shit out of him"

He was being serious. Silver was a dick to Shadow too, before he got a gut punch for his troubles. Shadow never respected him and probably never will.

"What did he say to you, huh?" asked Sonic.

"Well, I bumped into him, he started-"

"OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Scourge screamed. "SHIT!"

Me and Sonic jumped out of our quills.

"What the hell, man?!" Sonic blurted out.

Scourge was an avid supporter of Westopolis United, and by the looks of things they'd just conceded a cheap goal in the 90th minute. It had cost them the match, not to mention against their rivals, AFC Central City. Scourge was well within his rights to be annoyed.

"Hell with this, see ya guys" said Scourge. Wow, he was angry. Shadow was laughing his tail off.

Sometime later, Sonic was watching the news at ten. It was part of this weird routine he had, he couldn't not do it.

"Hey guys, seen this?"

"What?"

"There was a murder after our show not too far from where we were"

"What happened?"

"Oh man, that's terrible, it was a little kid"

I winced. I always liked playing with kids, and I couldn't stand child cruelty or paedophiles or anything like that.

"Have they caught him yet?"

"No, not yet..." Shadow answered, now paying attention.

"Hey wait, look, breaking news, there's been another! In east Station Square!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Wait, that's..."

"Where Scourge went" Shadow finished my sentence.


	2. The Injustice Beigns

Sorry for the long wait, I didn't have access to my phone, which coincidentally had my files on them.

Anyway, enjoy chapter 2 I guess :P

( * * * )

"Come on Sonic, get a move on!" I shouted.

"Why don't you learn to drive, get your own car and take a chill pill Manic?"

"I _can_ drive, you know I can, I just can't afford to buy a car. Besides, why can't you just use your Sonic Speed?"

"Like I said, I only got four hours sleep last night bro, I'm tired as shit. Are you gonna shut up? You're like our mom!"

"Ugh, just shut the fuck up and drive, Sonic! Shit!" Shadow interrupted. It was always wise to listen when Shadow was annoyed.

It was only about 3 minutes to East station square by car, but with what looks like a murdering spree going off, you can never be too sure. Besides, Scourge would be the type to get himself into trouble in these situations.

"Right ok, we're here gentlemen." Sonic announced. "See him?"

There was a crowd of about 20 Mobians being herded away by Swat Bots and Police officers; presumably they'd gathered where the activity was. And just then, in the crowd I spotted a green hedgehog with red sunglasses and a black leather jacket with a flame design on it. I could have picked him out just by his clothes alone.

"He's there, you two." I pointed out.

"Ah-ha!" Sonic exclaimed, exiting the car, along with me and Shadow.

"Hey Scourge!" Me and Sonic shouted. He turned to us upon hearing his name.

"What? How'd you guys know I was here?" He said, surprised.

"Because you're predictable, now what the hell happened?" Shadow replied tactlessly.

"I dunno man, I heard screaming, then I saw that shit was going down so I went to have a look. I couldn't see shit though, too many people." He answered.

"Someone's dead y'know" I said to him.

"Oh shit, really? Goddamn, do they know who it was?"

"No, not yet I don't think -"

"That's him! That bastard killed my son! Him there!" A voice shouted out. I looked around. I saw a woman just to the side of me with tears in her eyes. It must have been her. She was also pointing with her hand.

At Scourge.

We all looked at him, shocked.

"What? What the fuck? It wasn't -" He started.

"Scourge, get in the car" Sonic commanded.

"But -"

"Get in the fuckin' car!" Shadow bellowed. The Swat Bots were approaching as we all rushed back into the car.

"Sonic, drive!" Shadow barked.

"Whaddya think I'm doing, Shadz?" Sonic replied, urgency in his voice. He started up the car and sped off.

"Get 'em!" Shouted an officer from outside. Soon enough, I could hear sirens.

"Sonic, you gotta shake 'em off!" I blurted out. Sonic sighed.

"Scourge, what the hell man?!" he exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief as he sped down the road, now under pursuit.

"Listen, man, I didn't do anything!"

The police were just behind us, as I looked over at Sonic. He knew the penalty for speeding. He didn't want to risk getting his car crushed. He also knew that he didn't have a choice.

"Fuck..." he mumbled, slamming his foot on the pedal.

The car accelerated at a speed slower than himself, but with the inevitable bullet fire, the car was the better option. Sonic turned into a side road and the chase began.

( * * * )

Sonic weaved through the bendy road at high speeds, flanked by greenery, with the police not far behind. He clipped a wall with the rear end of his car on a sharp turn. He did well to straighten his trajectory, but our pursuers were now gaining ground. Worse, they were firing. Really? Already? What has Scourge done?

Sonic reached a straight run of road. Bad news. Now the police had a clear shot. I heard blasts of gunfire from behind us. Shit! A bullet just pierced the rear windshield, whizzed past my ear and straight out the front.

"Come on Sonic, we're gonna die here!" Scourge shouted through reaction. The bullet must have barely missed him, too.

"No thanks to you" Shadow remarked, coldly. He was very calm.

"We ain't dying, not today" Sonic claimed. Suddenly, he turned harshly - straight towards a fence and off the road!

"Sonic, what the fu-" I started.

The car burst through the wooden fence, taking us into a farmer's field. The police ground to a halt in order to change their direction. It bought us valuable time.

"Ok, Evil Knievel, now what?" Shadow remarked. The police were now in the field, still chasing. No doubt they'd catch us offroad... But just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an idea.

"Sonic, that barn, there!"

"What?"

"Get in it dude, I've got a plan"

Acting out of character, Sonic obliged. The pressure must have been getting to him.

"Ok, reverse through the entrance bro" I instructed.

"Ok, now what?"

"Wait"

"WAIT? Are you serious? They saw us go in here!" Scourge blasted.

"Scourge, I'd shut the fuck up if were you" Shadow icily replied for me.

"Wait... listen" I quietened them.

I heard the opening of car doors. The officers were exiting their cars in order to go after us.

"All of you, come out with your hands in the air!"

"Manic?"

"Now bro, drive!"

"What?"

"DRIVE!"

On instinct, Sonic put his foot down. The car sped out of the barn at top speed, leaving the officers in our wake. They opened fire, to no avail. They'd all got out of their cars to arrest us - but we were still in ours. We'd done it. We had escaped from the city.

( * * * )

It took a while to sink in that we were now, in effect, wanted criminals. We had to park in an area devoid of CCTV, so the only place we could find was this little, mossy cave. As soon as we were out of the car, Shadow grabbed Scourge and pinned his arms to a wall.

"Shadow, what are you -" Scourge started.

"Answers, please." Shadow replied.

"What?"

"Tell me what happened!"

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me! I'm clean!" Scourge begged his case. Sonic was listening in on the car's radio for updates during this.

"Why did that woman point to you then? Answer me that! We're all criminals now because of this, you know!" Shadow was incensed. He wanted this explanation from Scourge.

"Shadow, come on man, he's your buddy, leave him alone" I said, trying to restore some peace to the situation.

Shadow turned to say something when Sonic called.

"Guys?" He said. The look on his face alone gave me chills. I hesitated

"What?"

"Manic... you sure you haven't killed anyone?" My face fell to the fucking ground.

"No I fucking haven't..."

Shadow let go of Scourge without apologising.

"We're being set up. We're being fucking set up!" He yelled.

"There's more" Sonic continued. "Someone who looks like me is out killing too, and he's got a body count higher than your doppelgangers" Sonic continued, forlorn. Shadow's turned instantaneously towards Sonic.

"What?!"

"Is there something wrong with that? Besides the obvious?" Shadow walked over to the car, rested his elbows on the bonnet and buried his head in his hands.

"What's up, Shadz?"

"The rumours are true" Shadow said belatedly.

"Huh?"

"He's free."

"Who?" I asked. Shadow paused.

"Exe."


	3. We're Not Taking This

"What? Are you serious?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm damn serious. The rumours must be true..." Shadow responded.

"Who's Exe?" Scourge butted in. Shadow turned to him, clearly annoyed at Scourge's ignorance.

"Exe, the mass murderer. Criminally insane, locked up for life after killing his 23rd victim." I answered for Shadow to prevent a sarcastic response.

"23? What the hell, how was he not roboticized?"

"Well, apparently he was reported to have an extremely high IQ, higher than President Robotnik's. Instead of killing him, they took the bastard in to experiment on him, or so people believe."

"Ok, whatever, but how do you know he's free, Shadman?" Sonic questioned.

"You'd have heard the rumours too, if you'd actually leave the house once in a fuckin' while." Shadow told him. " And don't call me 'Shadman' you idiot."

"Come on, it's an awesome nickname!"

"Hmph. I admit, it's better than 'Faker'."

"Hey, that's old, I don't call you that shit anymore."

"Wait, if we've got three people who look like us out killing and probably framing us for it, does that mean Exe is in league with those assholes?" Scourge asked, showing rare signs of intelligent thought.

"No. I doubt it." Shadow answered plainly.

"Why?"

"Exe's too fucked in the head to make a normal conversation with someone. He doesn't want to do it, simple as that. He just wants to kill, and cause pain. Sounds cliché, but that's how he is. He never team up with people, he'd rather rip their heads off." Shadow said.

"So he's a socially awkward wackjob who looks like me, what's so bad about that? Surely the police must know it's him and not me."

"That's the problem." Shadow stated.

"What?" Everyone in the cave looked at him.

"...Robotnik is a tyrannical, lying piece of shit. He wants everyone to think that he's a great leader. He's gone too far before to cover up his mistakes; it's ruined people's lives. If the general public finds out that Exe is free, and that he's been experimenting on him, he's in deep shit. He needs to cover up his mistake to maintain his image." Shadow took a breath of air. "We're Robotnik's next victims."

"Shit... I hope you're wrong, Shadz..." Sonic said morosely.

Hours passed, and we'd barely talked to one another. I like to think of myself as a laid-back kind of guy, but it was difficult to not remain living in fear after Shadow's statement.

"We've gotta get out of this cave, they'll find us if we stay here." Sonic piped up.

"Are you serious? Where are we gonna go?" Scourge retorted.

Sonic paused. "You wanna put up with this? You wanna spend the rest of your life on the run until you get caught and turned into a fuckin' egg pawn? No, I'm finding the truth. I'm not putting up with this crap."

"Yeah, but at least we'll never be caught in here."

"Bullshit, we'll be caught in two weeks max." Sonic said.

"Tell that to Bid Laden."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm leaving in the morning."

"If you go, I'm going with ya, bro." I said.

"I hate to say it, but Faker's right. I wanna find whoever did this, and I'm gonna kick their ass." Shadow agreed.

"Come on, Scourge. For the Quills, man." I encouraged.

"Eh, why not. I'm hungry any way. I ain't eating my own shit for the rest of my life in this damn cave. I'll go."

He walked over to the three of us, me and Sonic embraced him as a friend, while Shadow waited at the side with his arms folded.

"Come on, Shadman. Group hug time!" I said cheerfully to him.

He smiled. "Don't call me that." He said, joining the hug.

( * * * )

Jesus... I did not sleep well last night. Moss and rocks don't make a good mattress. I looked around. The others were up, waiting for me.

"Just waking up, Manic man?" Scourge asked, almost mockingly.

"We going out to the find the truth then guys?" I responded.

"With any luck." Shadow replied.

"Manic, you can drive, right?" Sonic questioned.

"Yeah, bro."

"Ok, if we run into any shit, you take the wheel. Me, Shadz and Scourge will get out and run alongside ya."

"But what if they're firing guns 'n shit?"

"Pfft, no-one can hit me when I'm on the move!"

"So why do I have to stay in the car?"

"Maybe cause you're the only one without super-speed?"

I sighed. "Yeah, ok."

"So, where do we head off to then, Shadow?" Scourge asked.

"We need to know who the other doppelgangers are first. If we can catch Exe, that's a bonus, but we've got to be careful around that asshole."

"So, Manic and Scourge lookalikes first?"

Shadow nodded. "Yeah."

"Keep an ear on that radio, Manic." Shadow instructed. "If they kill again, we'll know." Sonic was cruising the streets, where we'd already been in search of clues.

"Hey, wait guys, murder!" I said.

"Who?"

I sighed. "It was 'Sonic'."

"Shit. Does it say where he is?"

"South Westopolis."

"Right, then let's get our asses over there then." Sonic said.

"No, surely there's gonna be shit-tons of cops and Swat Bots over there!" Scourge exclaimed.

"Uh, guys?"

"What, Manic?"

"Swat bots."

"Priority One - Hedgehogs."

"Shit! Manic, take the wheel!'

"Got it, bro!"

Shadow, Scourge and Sonic all exited the vehicle to fend off the bots and cop cars. I slammed my foot on the accelerator, speeding down a side road where, hopefully, there would be less traffic.

The bots flew from above, firing the gatling guns on their left arms. Sonic used one of the cop cars as a platform, jumping up and performing a homing attack in midair on a bot. Damn bro! The attack knocked off one if the bot's jet pack engines, sending it spiraling straight into a police car. Boom.

I felt a car ramming into the car, causing me to jolt back and forth in my seat. Shadow interfered, jumping on the cop car's hood, smashing the windscreen and blinding the officer inside with glass in his eyes. The car proceeded to drive off the road, overturning in the process.

Scourge jumped atop my car for a minute, then onto the back of an unsuspecting Swat bot. He climbed up its back, repeatedly punching its visor from behind. Eventually it broke, and the bot flew uncontrollably into a tree with Scourge jumping off at the last second.

All of a sudden, I spotted a black van from my rear-view mirror. In it was a paired of men in black balaclavas. They weren't police. And they weren't slowing down.

The van rammed straight into the back of Sonic's car, causing me to nearly lose control of it. The people in the van then pulled out guns - but not at me. At the police.

They fired, sending Swat bots crashing down and bursting the tyres of the cop cars.

"What the hell?!" I heard Scourge shout.

Now, it was just them and us. They pointed their assault rifles directly at the car. And fired.


	4. The Masqueraders

Thanks for the reviews and support guys, it means a hell of a lot. Hope you all enjoy Chapter Four! :)

( * * * )

The Masked Mobians opened fire. They peppered the car with bullets, shattering the rear windscreen. I ducked down as far as possible in order to avoid a bullet in the back. I looked up, watching the shots whizz over my head and through my spiked quills.

"Watch it, you'll mess up my hair!" I shouted.

Shadow, Scourge and Sonic saw the situation at hand. Scourge and Sonic flanked the the van by its sides, giving Shadow an opening to leap on the van's bonnet. He kicked at the windscreen in an attempt to break it like he did with the cop car from earlier - but it didn't even crack.

"I can't break it, it's too - ah!" He started. One of the masqueraders fired his or her sub-machine gun at Shadow while he was the on the van, with Shadow just barely avoiding being pumped full of lead. Onto Plan B.

Sonic and Scourge began performing consecutive homing attacks on the sides of the van, in an attempt to knock it off balance. Our assailants fired at my bro and his green lookalike, but they were moving too fast to be hit.

"Heh, need glasses dude?" Sonic quipped.

"Hey asshole, I'm he-re!" Scourge taunted.

In response to the mocking, the driver, as Sonic was preparing for a homing attack, swung the van in his direction to counter the blow. The result sent my bro crashing to the floor in a heap. Damn... I watched as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, only to jump back to his feet and keeping running. And I thought he was soft...

The van then advanced up to the side of me. It seemed like they'd run out of ammo - and it was a good thing too, or I'd be a dead 'hog for sure. They began ramming into the side of the car, trying to run me off the road. They hit me again. And again. Each time they pushed me further and further towards the road's edge. The van prepared for another attack. And so did I. As the van began to swerve into me again, I hit the breaks. The van completely missed its target. And thanks the momentum it was carrying, it swerved off the road, getting stuck in a ditch.

"Someone's been drinking too much!" Scourge laughed triumphantly.

I exited the car, and we all advanced towards the trapped van. But then, out of the blue, I and the rest of the Rising Quills were blinded by a flash of light. After we regained our vision and composure, we looked to the van. But it wasn't there. It was gone.

( * * * )

"Ok, what the hell, what just happened?" Sonic inquired. We were all dumfounded. How can it be there, and then not a second later?

We had all returned to the cave that we had been calling home for the past 24 hours. Well, Scourge had named it the "Man Cave" but no-one listens to him anyways. Shadow had been thinking quietly to himself for a very long time. All of a sudden, he opened his mouth.

"I'll tell you what the hell that was." He claimed. We turned our heads to him. "It was Chaos Control."

"What? Never heard of it." Scourge said.

"Then shut up and listen." Shadow put bluntly. "Chaos Control gives you the ability to warp, teleport, whatever you wanna call it. You can warp objects too, if you want. A certain amount of Mobians can perform it, but that amount is actually quite high."

"Hey, ya reckon I can use Chaos Control Shadz?" Scourge asked, somewhat arrogantly.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're a fuckin' idiot." That shut Scourge up.

"The thing is," Shadow continued, "The only way you can perform Chaos Control is if you've got a Chaos Emerald in hand - which by the way, are extremely rare as I'm sure you all know." He was right, everyone knew what a Emerald was, and everyone knew that there were only seven on the face of Mobius. They were said to have strange powers; this Chaos Control business must have been one of them.

"Most people who can use Chaos Control don't actually know they can, because they've never had an emerald to try it and probably never will. There's other Chaos powers too, like Chaos Blast and Chaos Spear, but they aren't as well known." Shadow finished.

"Wait, so that means that those asswipes back on that van had a Chaos Emerald? Damn!" Sonic exclaimed.

"No shit, bro." I said.

"Shut up, dude." He replied.

"Where would people like that get a Chaos Emerald?" Scourge asked.

"You know as much as me." Shadow said. "But while they've got it, we'll never catch them."

"You want to CATCH them?!" Scourge responded. "How do you even know they're even connected to this shit?"

"Scourge, when was the last time you got attacked by armed men driving a van at complete random?"

"Well, there was this one time -"

"Scourge, shut the fuck up, please" Shadow sighed.

"Scourge, dude, there's no way you're tellin' me that what happened to us back there was by accident. And even if it was, so what? We gotta chase every lead we get. It's the only shot we got of getting outta this mess." Sonic said with a strong sense of leadership.

"Ok, yeah. But how are we gonna find those assholes?" Scourge asked.

"Well, they came to us once, they've gotta come to us again. That shit looked planned." I said, running my hand through my hair.

"Yeah, heavy metal quills is right. We've gotta wait for them to come to us." Shadow said. Wait, "Heavy metal quills?" What?

"The only problem is that it gives them the element of surprise. And if they're tracking us, they probably know about this place."

"So we gotta leave?" Sonic quizzed.

"Like you don't wanna" I said. "This place is ass, bro."

"Yeah, but where we gonna go?"

"Nowhere. We're just gonna have to keep moving." Said Shadow.

"Yeah, but the cops know to look for a blue car full of bullet holes, driven by four hedgehogs."

"So do those masked men... wait a minute. They've got a Chaos Emerald... Manic, get some spray paint." said Shadz.

"Spray paint?" I asked the jet black hedgehog, confused.

"Don't ask, just do it."

I raised my hands. "Whatever, boss." Leaving the cave, I headed off to the nearest store.

( * * * )

Wearing a hooded jacket with my spiked hair poking out through the front, I looked through a store's window. Black spray paint. Heh. Stealing was my forte.

I entered its premises, approaching the spray can. I 'accidently' knocked the can off the shelf - so it could fall straight into my pocket. No one noticed. No one ever did. If I was a kleptomaniac, I'd be stealing every ten minutes. Not to brag, it's just what I'm good at. And just like that, I was gone.

I didn't feel guilty. I'd stolen from a multi-million company, and I hated them. They would always usurp the smaller companies and run them out of business. I blame Robotnik. His policies allow the rich to get richer while the poor have to suffer. That corrupt bastard; I ain't bowing down to him. I'm fightin' back.

( * * * )

"Shadz?" I said.

"What?"

"Delivery" I handed him the spray can.

"Thanks." He said quietly. He then turned to the car, and began spraying it black.

"Woah, what are you doing?!" Sonic blared.

"Can it, faker, this is gonna help. Besides, your car's wrecked anyway." Shadow said without looking at him.

Sonic sighed. "Fine... what's your plan?"

"The police know where we are through what our car looks like. Making it a different colour makes it harder to identify."

"Yeah, but there's bullet holes in it and it's got no back windscreen, Shadz." Scourge piped up.

"...Shut up, Scourge." It wasn't often you saw Scourge get the upper hand over Shadow.

"Anyway, I forgot to tell you that you can also use Chaos Emeralds as a tracking device. Those goons in that van should know where we are without having to resort to what our car looks like. So, they'll find us first - so long as the cops aren't using an emerald too."

"Hey, that reminds me, was that true that Robotnik lost his only emerald in that plane crash?" I said.

"Oh yeah, I remember that! Shadow, what ya know?" Scourge added.

"Let's hope so, Manic."

( * * * )

"So, we just gonna cruise? Like that shit worked so well the first time." Scourge criticised.

"Yeah, well we got a lead out of it so what's your problem?" Sonic responded.

"Maybe that we almost died?"

"But we didn't die, so what's your point?"

"What if those masked fuckfaces sneak up on us and blast us to shit?"

"We want them to sneak up on us, ya tool"

"Yeah, but we don't want them to blast us to shit, asshat!"

"Guys..." Shadow interrupted.

"Sup, Shadow?" I said.

"Guys... Shit!"

"What? What's up?" It wasn't often Shadow panicked like this.

"It's Exe!"

"What?!"

"It's fuckin' Exe!"


	5. Hunters Become The Hunted

Remember when I said I was on hiatus? I lied :P At least for now, anyway.

From now on in the intro I'll respond to each review personally, you guys are fantastic :) It's the least I can do to thank you lot for your continued support.

(* * *)

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Sonic blared.

"Where is he? Where is he? What does he look like?" Scourge panicked.

"There, in that alleyway!"

I turned my head to where Shadow was pointing. It was very dark, the time was 10 o'clock and I couldn't make a damn thing out.

"I.. I can't see him!" I said.

"Shadz, what ya pointin' at?" Scourge slurred.

"He was there... He must have gone." Shadow said, clearly distressed.

"Are you sure?"

"What? I saw him with my own two eyes, you dick!"

"Well then where is he now?"

Shadow paused. "I'm going after him."

"What? Surely you can't be serious!" Scourge protested.

"I am serious. And don't call me -"

"I'm going too. He's a threat to us and everyone else." Sonic said, cutting off Shadow's obvious pun. Shadow said nothing, showing his disproval silently.

We exited the battered car in search of the maniac. Our first thought, naturally was to enter the unsettlingly dark alleyway where Shadow had supposedly spotted him.

"Watch your backs." Shadow warned. "I don't want any of you ending up as Sonic's next victim."

"Heh, funny." Sonic said, the sarcasm oozing out of him.

Suddenly, a terrifying scream pierced the silence of the night. It seemed to trail off into a gurgle as it died off. The hell? What was going off here?

"What the fuck was that?" Scourge panicked.

"It came from over there, come on!" Sonic rallied. We headed over to the source of the noise, outside the alley. Our eyes soon saw what had caused it. And it was awful.

( * * * )

A Mobian. A brown fox wearing a red brand t-shirt and skinny jeans; he couldn't have been any older than 17. He had so much of his life to live...

He had a gaping wound across his stomach, with some of his guts hanging out, almost as if they had been dragged out. He also appeared to have a cut on his eyebrow, like he'd been hit and knocked to the ground before being disemboweled. Blood was dribbling out of his wide open mouth, into his wide open eyes. He had died screaming in fear and agony. Was this the doing of Exe?

"Damn... My god, what sick fuck would do this?" Scourge said weakly.

"I'll tell ya who, Exe! I told ya I saw him! And, we coulda had him if you'd have believed me!" Shadow ranted.

"Are you kiddin', Shadz? How do you even know it was him?" Sonic countered.

"Listen, faker, I'm not an idiot. I saw him. He looked at me! He was there in that alley! Then all of a sudden there's a dead body and screaming? Yeah, I wonder what happened there. Fuck!" Shadow raged. He was clearly upset. It wasn't difficult to tell, it never was.

Sonic sighed. "Manic, check the radio" He said, diminished.

"K, bro" I said, quietly. I switched on the car's built-in radio, listening intently to the news.

"This is the MBC Radio 1 news at 10. In today's headline news, activists launch a new campaign to bring and end to mass deforestation, Shadow Chancellor Eggman Nega has released a controversial statement on President Robotnik, and in breaking news, there has been another murder added to the recent number caught on CCTV in downtown Westopolis." The anchor stated. Shit, no way! That's where we were!

"Guys, guys! Come listen, it's on the news!" I shouted. The other thee hedgehogs ran over to the radio, listening carefully.

"...We have just caught word from Robotnik himself that he is deploying GUN soldiers and Swat Bots into the area, and everyone is to be evacuated immediately. He has declared this mass butchery a "Nationwide crisis". MBC reports, Westopolis." GUN?! No way!

"Are you kidding me? GUN?" Sonic said, fearfully.

"We gotta hide... We don't stand a chance against a GUN platoon." Shadow said bluntly.

"So, were do ya suggest we hide?" I asked, trying to stay calm, even though we our chances of survival looked remote.

Shadow sighed lightly. "In that dumpster?"

"Are you fuckin' me? Nah, Shadz, come on man."

"Do you wanna live?" Shadow asked coldly.

"Well -"

"Then get in the damn dumpster or I'll kill you myself!" Shadow snarled through gritted teeth. Scourge wisely obliged.

( * * * )

To say the smell was bad would be beyond an understatement. What the hell was in this thing? It was indescribable, it hurt my nose. I could barely breath.

"A dumpster? Really? *Choke* How cliché can ya get?" Scourge moaned.

"Shut up, they'll hear us!"

"So what? This is the first place they'll look!"

"Shut. Up!"

"Wait, listen up guys... they're talkin' about something..." I said quietly.

"This is GUN Epsilon Red Leader, squad, have you located any further evidence to the hedgehogs' current location, over?" The Soldier said through his mic.

"That's a negative boss, but we have located their vehicle. We're in the process of removing it, and the body has been taken as well, over" One of the leader's squad replied over the radio.

"Good, Red 3. Take it away for evidence. Out." He said, turn his mic off. "You two! Over there! Come with me, check this alley!" He commanded to two of his squad members. The alley he was checking, unfortunately, was the one the dumpster and subsequently us were in.

"They're coming... no-one even breath" Shadow whispered.

"I couldn't anyway" I responded as quietly as possible.

The sound of ominous footsteps echoed through the vile dumpster. They approached closer and closer. They were just feet away from us. Their weaponry was top-notch. They were trained to be perfect soldiers. One sound, one idea to look in the dumpster and we were dead.

Then I slipped.

I had my foot planted on a particularly greasy piece of trash, and it gave way. I hit the side of the dumpster. I couldn't stop myself. The worst part? The GUN soldiers heard me. Not us. Me. I'd doomed us. Everyone looked at me liked I'd just killed their families.

"Manic..." Sonic started.

"Did you hear that?" A soldier said.

"Yeah, I did..." The leader said. "Alright, hedgehogs! If you're in there, come out now, for your own sakes!" He barked. "All squad members, report to my position! We may have found the hedgehogs, repeat, we may have found the hedgehogs-"

"RUN!" Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs. He burst out of the top of the dumpster with a huge jump. The three GUN soldiers began firing at him, but he was too quick. He used the triangle jump he had learnt from parkour school to exit the alley at lightning-fast speed. We quickly followed suit, using our spin-dashes to escape the dumpster, ripping it apart in the process. We ran out of the alley to catch up to Sonic, with Scourge taking hold on my arm to ensure I could keep up.

Outside the alley, multiple GUN soldiers brought their attention to us, not to mention the Swat Bots they'd brought along. We tried to escape, but they were smarter than that. Military vehicles were blocking the roads - not to mention, we still couldn't get back to the car.

"Shit... this way!" Shadow ordered, kicking and smashing a window to a house. We followed. The soldiers blasted the house, peppering it with bullets.

"Use your grenades!" the sqaud leader commanded. What happened to the public being top of your agenda, Robotnik? Whoever owned this house certainly wasn't.

Explosions rattled the house, causing a break out of fire and ceilings to give way. We weren't gonna last long in here. Scourge kicked at the back door to try and open it, but it was locked tight.

"Come on... *kick* Come on!" He yelled.

"Need a little help, Scourgey?" I asked playfully, holding a gun loosely in my hand. I aimed it at the lock and fired. It didn't stand a chance, and the door was opened.

"Where'd ya get that?" He asked, dumbfounded. I tapped the side of my nose.

"Got it off one o' those GUN soldiers. Master of espionage, Manic Hedgehog." I said, admittedly pretty cockily.

"Come on greenos, we gotta get outta here!" Sonic interrupted. We exited the house just seconds before it collapsed. The soldiers didn't know where we were. I'd doomed us, yet I saved us a minute later.

( * * * )

We were crouched behind a fence, with enough distance between us and the GUN patrols to keep us safe.

"Guys, we can't go just yet, what about the car?" Scourge asked.

"Fuck the car, we don't need it" Shadow answered.

"Manic needs it" Sonic retaliated.

"Oh yeah. Wait, can't you just hold onto one of us?"

"Yeah, but I'd rather drive. And, it's gotta be easier than runnin' like that all the time, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, he's right. I ain't runnin' everywhere." Scourge said.

"Me too" Sonic agreed.

"So, you're gonna risk our lives just so you two can sit down?"

Scourge and Sonic looked at each other. "Yeah"

Shadow facepalmed. They weren't stupid, they were just doing it to wind him up. Well, Sonic wasn't at least.

"Fine..."

( * * * )

"We coulda just got out of here by now..." Shadow complained.

"Hey Shadz, I didn't steal that can of spray paint or run that van off the road for nothin'" I countered.

"Hmph."

"They're over there, look. They haven't gotten far, I told yas" Sonic confirmed.

"Right, so I cut the chain right?"

"Yeah, then Manic gets in, puts the keys in and we're outta here. Me and Shadman'll distract those GUN goons while ya do it" Sonic stated.

"Don't call me that, faker"

"Yeah, sorry Shadz. Everyone ready?"

"Yeah. Ready."


	6. Grand Theft Hedgehog

I'm back, sorry for the slight delay. Like I said, I'll be responding to your reviews from now on.

Werewolf99 - I hope not, it's pretty much them against the world at this point!

Sonamyloversega - Seeing as you gave me five reviews (thanks a ton for that by the way) I'll only respond to your views on the latest chapter.

That's what I've been going for really, I've been trying to avoid short chapters as best as I can. Thanks for the feedback :)

Anyway, bring on Chapter six.

( * * * )

I looked upon the truck that was practically holding Sonic's car hostage. This was no ordinary pickup truck. It had a dark, almost dirty grey colouring all over its frame, with eight wheels to boot. Sonic's car was held in place on the top of the truck by a thick metal chain suspended from a hook. The chain wrapped around the vehicle, then around a platform that was under the car. The GUN soldiers were gathering. If we didn't make a move soon, our chance would disappear.

"So, do we go now?"

"Wait... Give me that gun." Shadow said.

"Why?" Scourge asked.

"Maybe cause I've actually fired a gun before in my life?"

"Oh yeah? When?" Scourge retaliated.

"...Can I just have the gun, Scourge?" Shadow answered, weakly.

"Heh, whatever you say, big man!" Scourge said as mockingly as possible. He was revelling in Shadow's embarrassment. He grinned at him like a Cheshire cat with his sharp fangs as he handed over the firearm. Shadow gave him a look that could break glass, taking it from his hand.

"Ok, ok, calm down Rambo!" Scourge taunted. Shadow gritted his teeth, trying not to react and give Scourge any satisfaction.

"Ok, ok, NOW are we ready?" Sonic asked. We all responded with a "Yeah" although Shadow was the slowest to reply.

"We all know what to do, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Ok then... 3, 2... 1! Now!"

Shadow and Sonic sped out, catching the troopers' attention. Scourge and I hung back. He sped up his spin dash as bullets were fired at our friends. Not that they were fazed by it.

"Yo, GUN dudes! How's it hangin'?" Sonic mocked.

Scourge released the energy built up and flung himself at the chain suspended from the hook. There was a metallic rattling as he collided with it. I was just about to jump the fence when I looked up and realized - the chain was intact. It wasn't even damaged. A hedgehog's spin dash was, as demonstrated earlier, enough to tear apart a dumpster. GUN weren't messing around here.

"What? How did it not - woah, shit!" Scourge exclaimed, before the GUN soldiers spotted him. He wasn't exactly the stealthiest hedgehog in the world.

The truck was still not moving, but now with the commotion, the driver was running to his post. The car wasn't going to move, but the truck was. I had an idea. I ran in the same direction as the driver, obviously much slower than the other hedgehogs - but fast enough. The driver got to the door first - but that was the plan. He got in, put the keys in the ignition, but before he could close the door - I was there.

I grabbed the door to the truck, forcing it to stay open while he tried to shut it. The human was caught off guard, and I capitalized with a punch to his jaw. He fell back, his body sprawled over both seats. I climbed in, the turning to shut the door then - as the door clicked I winced in pain as the GUN member grabbed my rear quills and pulled hard. A dirty tactic, and it hurt like a bitch. I had thought he was knocked out. I was wrong. I had a fight on my hands.

He grabbed my head to ram it into the window, still with a fistful of quills, but I held my hands out in front of me to prevent the impact. I swung my left arm back at him, my elbow connecting just underneath his cheek bone. He flinched, falling backwards again with both hands on his face.

The human slammed his fist onto the underside cabinet of the vehicle, causing it to open while keeping one hand on his face. In it, a military issue combat knife. He wasted little time in his attack, lunging immediately. He was sweating, his eyes were wide. Almost as if he was scared...

I *just* managed to dodge his assault, his knife passing through my punk quills. His forward momentum caused him to fall, the knife stabbing and lodging itself into the accelerator's mechanism. The knife forced it the whole way down. The next thing I knew, I was flung back into my seat as the truck almost took flight. My god, this thing was quick!

The truck began careening down the streets of Westopolis at breakneck speeds, sending soldiers scattering. I desperately tried to control it with the steering wheel. My knuckles were as white as the gloves I was wearing. But the human still wasn't done. He wrapped his left arm around my throat, then used his other to push forward on the back of my neck. A sleeper hold. If I was in this for too long, he'd starve me of oxygen - and kill me. I began choking, my eyes glazing over. Everything became a struggle. I was fading. I needed to fo something, quick... acting purely on instinct, I grabbed a seatbelt buckle, and using all of my remaining energy I drove it directly into his temple.

The GUN employee fell back into the passenger seat with an agonised - almost frightened - yelp. Thinking quickly, I slammed the palm of my hand into the top of the cabinet - setting off the airbag. It blasted into the dazed human's face, blinding him for a second. That second was all I needed. I opened the door on his side, then pushed him out of the truck with my feet in one quick movement. Next time I want a car towing away, I'll call ya, buddy.

I returned to the helm of the vehicle, still speeding at a velocity beyond its size. Bullets ricocheted off the armour plating and bulletproof windows. GUN were relentless. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all... In the corner of my eye, I saw a black blur. During the commotion when Shadow supposedly saw Exe... didn't Scourge leave his phone in the car? The cogs in my head started turning. I may have been involved in petty theft in my teens, shoplifting and such with my friends, but never anything like... this. This was practically Grand theft auto. Still, quick think from earlier experience had strengthened my quick thinking skills - hopefully enough to survive. I wound down the window and yelled at the top of my lungs over the chorus of gunfire.

"HEY, SHADOW!"

"WHAT?"

"GRAB THESE!" I screamed, throwing him Sonic's car's keys. He grabbed them with impressive nonchalance, getting the message. He leapt up to Sonic's car, unlocking it and entering through the rear-left door. Making sure he was in, I got my phone out of my pocket and looked up "Captain Red Glasses." Heh. I gave Captain Red Glasses a ring, all the while trying to keep the truck from flying off the road. I never knew I could multi-task this well.

I waited, hoping this would work. The windows began to crack under the constant gunfire. Come on, Shadow...

"What do you want?" Bingo! It worked all right.

"Shadow, get in the driver's seat and start up the engine, quick!"

"...Why?"

"I'm gonna let the car go, drive off and separate, but keep that phone on you so we can find ya later!"

"Hmph. Got it." Shadow didn't like being told what to do. This was a rare exception where he knew he probably die otherwise.

"Tell me when." I said, anxiety creeping in. Was this the right thing to do? What if he got killed, or worse, caught? What if Robotnik tortured him, or hell, robotocized him?

"Now. See you later, Manic." He said gruffly - and calmly.

I pulled the lever, the hook lowered. The chains loosened. The car was free. I watched through the battered wing mirror as Shadow drove off the platform. I cringed as he landed harshly, but after bouncing around he gained control and sped off down a side road. Some GUN vehicles followed him, but the gap between them was large. Hopefully large enough for him to escape. I then returned my attention back to the road - and my eyes widened in shock.

( * * * )

Right in front of me, a huge roadblock. Heavy duty GUN vans were blocking the road, and there was nowhere to turn to. There was only seconds before the collision. I felt the adrenaline pumping through every inch of my body. I narrowed my eyes as I pressed even down on the accelerator, further than the knife had dared to force it. I shut my eyes as there was mere feet to the impact. Then... holy shit.

The truck's front end was lifted up into the air following the smash. The vans were sent spinning like kids' toys. My head was rattling horribly as I was bounced around in my seat. All of the windows simultaneously shattered into tiny fragments. Some flew inside, cutting me. Or at least they probably did, I was too adrenalized to notice. Not to mention scared. Always wear your seatbelt, children.

With the windows broken, all it took was one good shot and it was over. I'd be killed instantly. I looked over to my left, spotting a bridge over a flowing river. The knife was now loose, allowing me to have full control of the vehicle. I thought -would that bridge be able to take the weight of the truck - plus the GUN platoon? If I could make it collapse... then have Sonic and Scourge run away with me in tow as it was falling down...

I looked over into the cabinet, to see if there was any more in terms of weaponry. And there was - a grenade. Perfect. For one final time, I checked behind. Two of the Quills were still there. As I reached the bridge, I slammed on the breaks, causing the presumably bulletproof tyres to emit an ear - piercing screech. Not that ear piercing bothered me, I already had two.

My hands shaking, I took a deep breath as I pulled the grenade's pin. The bridge was already creaking. I flashed the ticking bomb out of the smashed window to Sonic.

"Woah, what the hell dude?" He exclaimed. I threw it as far as possible, while making sure it stayed on the bridge.

"No time to explain! GRAB ME!" I yelled. I leapt from the truck, as he instinctively grabbed my outstretched left arm. We took off a lightning speed, Scourge following behind us, as I watched the grenade. The green bomb detonated, a flashing orange lighting up the midnight shroud, with red glowing shrapnel flying in all directions. It was like a deadly fireworks display. It caused the bridge to explode spectacularly, and dropped the GUN soldiers - not to mention the truck - into the river below. With that, we were free - we'd pulled off the impossible. We'd beaten GUN. Well, at least, for now.

( * * * )

"Damn... pretty wild, huh?" Sonic said, being the adrenaline junkie that he is.  
We returned to the cave after that little episode, as per usual. It just seemed like a good place to go, there was no CCTV out here, and no people. As far as I was concerned, this was a safe haven.

"What? Dude, I almost died back there!" Scourge complained. "And where'd Shadow go?"

"Oh yeah, Shadow. I'll call him. He's got your phone by the way, Scourge."

"Huh? Hey, what? Tell him to give it back, godamnit!" Scourge didn't take the news well.

"Shut up a minute, I'm calling him." I quietened him. Scourge continued to sulk silently.

"Hello?"

"Shadow, where are ya man?"

"I'm in some farming village in the middle of nowhere. I take it you're all in the cave?"

"Yeah. Coming?"

"Whatever. They've left some food here, I'll bring it round once I'm -"

Silence.

"Shadow?"

"Be quiet."

"Huh? Why -"

"Be quiet!" He snapped.

Several seconds passed. Scourge and Sonic were both looking at me with concern. The hell was happening here?

I heard a soft thump - presumably as Shadow put the phone down on the seat. Despite that, I could still make out one word that he said - the only word that he said.

"You..."

( * * * )

Just to clarify, Mobians in this world aren't like 3ft tall, they're just a little shorter than humans. So, if an average human male is 5ft 11, then an average Mobian male is 5ft 7. Anyway, thanks for reading :D


	7. A War On Two Fronts

Chapter 7 :P Thought I'd experiment with a bit of 3rd person in this one, so let's see how it goes. I also intend on making longer chapters from now on, so forgive me if they take longer to be released.

Werewolf99 - What kind of punishment?

ABCkirbywarriors - I actually plan on addressing that right about now...

( * * * )

3rd POV -

( * * * )

Two hedgehogs stared at each other in an empty barn, both of their gazes terrifying in their own way. They stood at an equal height, possessed equal power and perhaps even an equal mean streak. One of them was Shadow. The other?

Exe.

"What do you want from me?" Shadow demanded aggressively.

Exe did nothing. He was emotionless. He didn't once break his glare, with his dark, unblinking eyes and reddened pupils. Shadow didn't appear fazed on the outside - but on the inside it was a different story entirely. Fear was not something Shadow often experienced. But now that he was face to face with a serial killer who wouldn't think twice about ripping him in half, it was rife throughout his soul.

Shadow narrowed his eyes, looking for the answer he desperately wanted, as sweat began matting his fur.

"Are you gonna talk? Tell me what you want!" Shadow half shouted.

Exe responded with a disgusting smile. His teeth were sharp and jagged, almost like he was genetically engineered to be predatory. He began running his tongue across his upper set of fangs, almost seductively in a twisted sense.

"What's funny?!" Shadow barked. Seconds passed. Shadow began breathing more and more heavily. Eventually, Exe opened his mouth.

"You're frightened." Exe said, still grinning.

"W-what?" Shadow said, lost for words.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of... you can tell me if something's the matter, Shadow" Exe cruelly mocked.

Shadow began having to force his expression. Exe wasn't wrong. He was scared. "What? How do you know my name?"

"Heh heh heh... you pick up a lot from a few conversations, you know. That cave you and your friends live in... lovely, isn't it?"

"What? How long have you been stalking me? And how?"

Exe lifted up his right arm, slowly. In his hand, he held what Shadow could not even imagine. A Chaos Emerald!

"What?! Where did you get that?!" Shadow blurted, completely taken aback. Its red glow illuminated the darkness of the night, revealing more of Exe's dark blue body. His fur was a slightly darker shade to Sonic's, as well as it being more matted and dirty with bloodstains and general grime.

"That's not for you to know... and you don't need to - you're not leaving here alive." Exe said ominously.

Shadow began ever so slightly trembling. "Is that so?"

Exe laughed mockingly, yet softly. He spoke no words. He didn't need to.

"Grr... you're going to hell, you son of a bitch!" Shadow blared.

"I'm already there..." Exe whispered.

( * * * )

Manic's POV -

( * * * )

"Manic? The fuck is going on?" Sonic panicked.

"I'm ringing him, he ain't answering!"

"Shit... he's got my phone, damnit!" Scourge added. Me and Sonic shot him a disapproving look.

"What?" He protested.

A minute passed. Shadow wasn't answering.

"He's not picking up... shit!" I said, kicking the side of the cave in frustration. Scourge squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head back in annoyance, while Sonic put his head in his hands.

"Damnit, Shadz..." He mumbled.

"Fuck... is this it then? Is this when it starts? Is this when we can't run no more? Is this when we start dyin'?" I ranted, tears welling up in my eyes.

"What? How d'you know he's dead?" Sonic asked.

"It's just that..." I began.

"Manic, I'm sure he's fine." Sonic said, trying to calm me down.

"Damn, I've never seen you this worked up, Manic. You ok?" Scourge said, showing signs of empathy.

"No, I'm fine dude, it's just... we've known each other all our lives, we all went to school together, we helped each other through all kinds of shit... and now we're fucked, y'know? How the hell do we help each other through this kind of shit?"

"Bro, calm down. We're getting through this. We'll find Shadow, we'll get together and we'll -" Sonic began.

"Bro?" I asked, concerned.

Sonic's face fell into a pained, almost exhausted expression as he starting breathing heavily. He bent over, falling onto all fours, panting.

"Sonic!" I shouted as he collapsed.

As I ran over to him, I felt a sharp pain in my back. I flinched, but then soon the pain faded - as did I. My vision became blurred. My body felt like it weighed a hundred tonnes. I looked over at Scourge. He was suffering in the same way, his red sunglasses on the floor beside him. I fell, rolling onto my back. As I stared at the roof of the cave, a figure appeared over the top of me. Then another. And they were wearing masks. The next thing I knew, I was unconscious.

( * * * )

3rd POV -

( * * * )  
A flash of yellow lit up the barn as Shadow blasted forward at a breakneck speed. He held his clenched fist out in front of him, aiming to connect with the maniac's jaw. However, his speed was matched.

Exe sidestepped Shadow's rash lunge, with the ebony hedgehog turning his head to his opponent. He was in slight shock that he'd missed. Exe grinned before aiming for Shadow's temple with a kick. Shadow ducked, backflipping away to regain his bearings. He hit the ground on one knee.

"What are you?" Shadow said, bewildered.

"I am God." Exe answered.

Shadow gritted his teeth, lunging again. Before he hit Exe, he feinted, stopping in front of him. However, the psychopath was smart, smart enough to not take the bait. He just stood there and grinned.

Shadow was angered. He threw a rash left hand at Exe, who fully anticipated the strike and deftly avoided it. Positioning himself behind Shadow, he wrapped his arms around his waist, lifted him up and threw the jet black hedgehog onto the barn floor. Shadow took a second to regain his bearings, instinctively rolling away as Exe attempted to stamp on his head.

Shadow gave neither hedgehog a chance for a breather as he began charging up for a spin dash - an unlawful action punishable by execution due to its deadly potential. Shadow blasted from one end of the barn over to the other like lightning; had he hit Exe he would have cut him in half. However - Exe was one step ahead once more, sidestepping the ball of black. This time however, he wasn't playing games any longer.

Exe sped up behind Shadow with use of his super speed as he just stopped short of the barn wall. As Shadow turned, he was met with a terrifying sight - Exe's toothed smirk. The serial killer threw a huge punch at his opponent's face, but now it was Shadow's turn to evade an attack - which he did effectively. Exe's fist continued its momentum, smashing into and breaking through the side of the barn with a crunch of wood. With the impact, his hand was lodged, trapped in the wooden material and at the mercy of Shadow's anger.

Exe's arm was outstretched as he attempted to pull his hand out of the barn wall, as the other hedgehog pounced on the opportunity. He swiftly brought up his foot to kick Exe directly on the elbow, causing it to bend slightly the wrong way with the strike. He yelped like an animal upon the connection. But Shadow wasn't done. He, with all his strength, smashed his fist into Exe's jaw, almost dislocating it. The attack hit with such force that it ripped Exe's hand out of the hole, as both hedgehogs hit the floor hard. Shadow collected himself, standing over his injured foe.

Exe crawled over to a pole that was being used to support the second tier of the barn, with Shadow stalking him quietly. His grey gloves, one of which now ripped and stained red with blood, were used to take hold of the pole in an attempt to pull himself to his feet. Shadow complacently, almost arrogantly, took hold of Exe's head with the intention of ramming it into the support. However, Exe's show of weakness was just that - a show. He reached behind him, grabbed Shadow's arm, and spun around to assume the position of behind his assailant. All of a sudden, Shadow felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his shoulder, causing him to cry out - Exe was biting him!

Exe's sharp teeth pierced Shadow's flesh, drawing blood that matted Shadow's fur. He tried to push Shadow down to the ground by leaning on him, but the jet black hedgehog was strong - and smart. He placed his hands on the back of Exe's head and drove it directly into the pole, the collision taking both combatants to the floor.

Exe and Shadow got to their feet simultaneously, both holding their arms in pain and breathing heavily. Exe unleashed another blood-curdling grin and spoke up after the pause.

"Heh... you think I'm done with you?" He threatened.

"I hope not... I haven't had the chance to kill you yet," Shadow coldly replied.

They prepared to lunge out once more, but were both halted at a certain, easily identifiable noise -

"This is Guardian Units of Nations! Come out with your hands in the air!" A voice pierced the silence.

"How original..." Exe sighed, obviously used to being on the wrong side of the law.

He reached into his tatted quills, pulling out the mystical Chaos Emerald. Then, he performed something Shadow never thought he would witness.

"CHAOS... CONTROL!" He shouted. With his command, in a flash of red glowed in the heart of the barn and he just... vanished. He had disappeared - presumably to safety. The same could not be said for Shadow. He was in no condition to follow, after the fight and the GUN pursuit. He looked around for a place to hide, laying his eyes on on a pile of hay. He ran over to his intended hiding spot, promptly burying himself in it.

"Squad sections B and C, priority one - find Exe! Move! Section A, stay with me. There's another one still here, find him!" Barked the squad leader. Shadow cursed his luck at that last sentence. Some locals must have seen them. He heard the soldiers enter the barn, their footsteps loudening.

"Check in those crates," The squad leader ordered.

"Shit... how long do I have here?" Shadow thought to himself.

Tensions flared within him as he heard the sound of crates being cracked open. If they found him now, there was no way he could fight them off in this condition.

"Wait... men, hold up," said the leader. Shadow gritted his teeth. Had they found him? The leader paused. "Ok, move out. We're done here."

"What is it, Sarge?" Asked a squad member.

"Just heard some Intel from two bounty hunters - they've caught the hedgehogs."

"What?!"

( * * * )

Manic's POV

( * * * )

"Shit... he's waking up. Watch him," I heard a voice say. My vision was incredibly hazy. What was going on here?

"Yeah, whatever."

As my eyes focused, I saw two masked men in front of me - the same masked men who had attacked us earlier.

"Huh? What the fuck?!" I shouted, before trying to swipe out at them. However, my hands were bound by ropes tied to the chair I was sat on.

"Shut up you piece of shit, stay quiet. Jesus," Said one of the masked men authoritatively.

I looked to my left and my right. There, Sonic and Scourge, also seated, assembled with me in a triangle formation.

"Hey! Sonic! Scourge! Guys?" I pleaded with them to wake up, craning my neck around to reach them.

"Hey, don't wake them up too, ya fuckin' idiot!" One of our assailants demanded. I growled, hocked back some phlegm in my throat and spat it directly into his left eye.

"Ugh, you fuckin'... I'll kill ya!" He screamed, lunging at me. His partner held him back, to stop him from mauling me.

"Come on man, calm down. We got this, ok?" He said to him.

"Hmph... do that again and I'll your rip your eyes out, you piece of shit," He threatened. Suddenly, the noise he created caused Sonic and Scourge to stir, albeit groggily.

"The fuck...?"

"What... what's happening?" Scourge and Sonic said, respectively.

"Damnit man! Ya woke 'em up!" Complained the calmer masked man to his more erratic counterpart.

"Ugh... whatever. It doesn't matter," he replied.

"No, man, GUN want them unconscious," he said. Wait, GUN?!

"What? GUN? You gotta be kiddin' me!" Sonic declared, echoing my thoughts. The more complacent masked man shot him a vicious glance.

"Shut it, and maybe we'll be more gentle with you when we load you into the van," he remarked, smirking. Maybe he wasn't as peaceful as I first thought.

"Hey, asshole, don't talk to him like that? Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?" Scourge snarled, foul mouthed as ever.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Masked man #1 (the calmer one) replied, assertively.

"No, I don't actually, I can't see you for that mask. Is it to cover your fuck-ugly faces?" Scourge responded.

"Hmph. You think you're funny? How funny d'you think it'd be if I smashed your kneecaps?" Retorted Masked Man #2 (the mentally unstable one) in a hot blooded fashion.

"Calm it, man. It's not worth it. We just hand them over to GUN in one piece and take their money. It's as simple as that, don't complicate things," He said, quietening his partner.

"Money? We've got a bounty on our heads too?" Sonic questioned.

"Did not hear us? Shut up, hedgehog!" Masked Man #2 shouted in Sonic's face.

"No man, you shut up. I don't care what's happening to us at this point, I know that - just tell us who you are. If were as doomed as you say we are, what should it matter?"

"I said shut up, you fuckin'" Masked Man #2 started.

"No... they might as well know. After all, they'll be dead within 24 hours at most," Masked Man #1 snidely remarked.

"Ok, yeah, whatever. Should we?"

"Yeah, why not?"

The two masked men grabbed the top of their masks, slowly pulling them off simultaneously. First their revealed their mouths. Then their eyes. Then their identities. Masked Man #1 was Scourge's doppelganger, and Masked Man #2 was mine. They'd been planning this since square one. I furrowed my brow in frustration for not seeing this coming.

"I'm Jet the Hawk, that's Bean the Dynamite - and you're fucked."

"You bastards... you've been planning this all along," Sonic growled.

"As does any good Bounty Hunter. We knew you'd be weaker without the black and red one, so we waited for you to separate. Don't worry, he'll soon join you. Very soon... heh heh heh!" Jet taunted.

"Ugh... you don't even look like me that much," I said to Bean. It was true, he didn't.

"Ever heard of a wig, asshole?" He replied. Well, that explains that.

"How have you been doing this? And who are you working for?" I said, deflated.

"Who says we are working for someone? Maybe we are, maybe we're not. Either way, it's none of your fuckin' business."

"Anyway, we've been tracking you for some time now... with help of this," he said, reaching into his bag. In it? A Chaos Emerald. Its green tint lit up the night sky in a majestic, yet ominous fashion.

"My god, Shadow was right..." Sonic muttered, clearly downbeat.

"And you know how to use Chaos Control!" Scourge exclaimed.

"Heh heh... it's easier than you think, we both can do it. All you have to do is hold it in the palm of your hand and say..."

All of a sudden, a yellow flashing light appeared in the distance. My first thought was GUN, but then... I had other thoughts. It was approaching at an incredible speed. Before Jet could finish his sentence, it caught his and Bean's attention, distracting them. Could it be...?

It was! It was Shadow! Moving on his skates as fast as he could, he barged into Jet, knocking him to the ground before he could react - and taking his emerald. An alarmed Bean pulled a pistol out of its holder, but Shadow was too quick. In one movement, he leapt over to us, diving onto us and screamed -

"CHAOS CONTROL!"


	8. A Tiger Amongst The Sheep

Chapter 8 is here. Please let me know if you prefer the longer or shorter chapters, I'd appreciate it. :)

Werewolf99 - A bit harsh on Scourge, don't you think? XD

Mobius 2k14 - Yeah, I know, it's a shame. Thanks, though. :D

( * * * )

A flash of intense light lit within the Chaos Emerald held in Shadow's palm, shining brightly in the night sky, while Bean and Jet could only watch and panic. The flash grew quickly into an orb of pure, green light and began expanding rapidly. The hell is going on here? Could this be... Chaos Control? The orb soon encapsulated us as I took a deep breath out of uncertainty and fear. All of a sudden, everything around me disappeared. My vision became dominated by a single sight - a psychedelic kaleidoscope of green, in all different shades. I felt like I was moving incredibly fast, faster than Sonic or the other members of the band could move in tenfold. Before my mind had time to process all this, the light around me intensified, almost blinding me. Then, as soon as it had appeared, the light disappeared - and I fell to the ground. The whole experience lasted no longer than two seconds.

"Ugh... where are we?" Sonic groaned, bemused.

"Bro? Huh... what... what just..." I managed to force out, rubbing my head.

"Man... shit, I thought LSD was bad..." Scourge cursed.

I sat up, looking around. I looked left. We were in some sort of forest, or something. One thing's for sure, we weren't in the hills where we once were. The red and yellow leaves on the trees were falling sporadically, onto the foliage-covered floor. Then I looked right. As I did, my eyes were met with a nasty sight.

"Shadow!" I yelped. Our savior, our friend, beside me, was unconscious. He was laid on his stomach, blood leaking from his shoulder and clumps of fur were tattered all over his body.

I crawled over to him, grabbing his uninjured shoulder and rolling him onto his back. I shook him, trying to wake him - maybe it was worse than just unconsciousness...

"Huh? Woah, Shadow! Is he..." Sonic said, panicking more the further his sentence went.

"Holy shit, Shadz!" Scourge yelled, purely from reaction.

"Shadow! Shadow, dude, wake up!" I shouted into his ear. He began twitching, then to my relief (and the two hedgehogs to the side of me), he coughed before opening his eyes, albeit with highly noticeable fatigue.

"W-...*cough* The fuck? That worked?" He said, groggily.

"Huh? You mean... Did you use Chaos Control?" Scourge asked.

"Yeah, w-well figured out dumbass, I only sc...*cough*screamed it at the t-top of my lungs," Shadow responded, tactless as ever, even in his battered state.

"Hmph. You're ok, that's for sure," Scourge said, rolling his eyes at Shadow's personality in general.

"Yeah... just let me... ungh..." Shadow mumbled, slowly clambering to his feet.

"Woah, woah, Shadz, hold it," Sonic spoke up as Shadow clambered upright.

"W-what? What's the matter now?" Shadow said, impatiently. He was breathing very heavily and was clearly in a bad way, but was far too proud to show any signs of weakness to his peers. Especially us.

"Look at your shoulder."

"Oh yeah. M...my shoulder. Guess who did that," He growled. The moment his last word exited his mouth, one immediate name appeared in my head. Could it be...?

"Shadow, are you telling me...?"

"Y-yeah. Exe."

"My god... Shadow, I'm so sorry for doubting you. What'd he do, stab you?" Sonic asked.

"Stab me? No. He b-bit me."

"He BIT you?!"

"Y-yeah. Do you understand what we're up against here? He's more than just insane, he's practically f-feral. And that was no coincidence, me running into him there. He's been tracking us," Shadow stated.

"What? You mean... how?" Scourge asked, fear rising in his voice.

Shadow sighed, beginning to recover. "He's got a Chaos Emerald."

"W-what?!" Me, Scourge and Sonic said in unison.

Shadow nodded. "Wait, so he's still tracking us?" I asked, trying to sound more inquisitive than nervous. Shadow nodded again.

"Well... you fought him off, didn't ya Shadz?" Sonic said, clutching at straws to retain morale.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Hmm. If we can stick together, we as a group can fight him off," Shadow said.

"But... Shadow, your shoulder. You're bleedin' all over the place. If Exe or GUN attacks again, you're finished," Sonic stated bluntly.

"Oh please, spare me this shit. I'm fine."

"Shadow, I'm thinking with the interest of the group in mind here, as well as yours. What if it gets infected? Then what, huh? It's not like we can just run you down to the nearest hospital, we're public enemy number one!"

"Yeah. Ok. What do you have in mind? Got a band aid, faker?"

"No, Shadz, shut up. Manic'll go and get us some bandages," Sonic said, turning to me. "And when I say 'get' I mean 'steal'."

"Hey, bro, you can't expect me to go out there while Exe's fuckin' trackin' us!" I insisted.

"You should be fine - I gave him a beating. I managed to that cut open that bastard's head, so he'll probably be recovering right now. But be quick," Shadow butted in.

I sighed, fearfully. "Well, if you say so. And anyway, if ya want somethin' stealin' I'm your guy, bro," I said, a smile of hope forming on my face. Jesus, I'm such a damn kleptomaniac. I need to get that sorted with a doctor some day or another.

"Ok then... hey, Shadz where's the... car. You lost it, didn't you?"

"The car? Yeah. GUN took it. My apologies," Shadow said, pulling no punches.

"Looks like you're gonna have to walk it, fatass!" Scourge said, turning to me and laughing. Damnit Scourge, how many times have I told that dickhead I'm thinner than he is?

I turned to Shadow. "Um, Shadow, where did you leave Scourge's phone? Was it in the car, by any chance?" I asked, sarcastically feigning innocence.

"Oh, that piece of shit? Yeah, that too," Shadow responded.

"What? Aw, fuck!" Scourge cursed. Cue the laughter from me, Sonic and Shadow.

"Heh... anyway guys, I oughta be getting off. What's the plan, you guys staying here?"

"Yeah. We'll stay here, if we're not here then just stay put and we'll be back soon enough. And Manic?" Sonic noted.

"Hmm?"

"Watch yourself."

( * * * )

Right in front of me stood my current goal. A shop that sold bandages for Shadow's wound, illuminating the black early morning sky with its tacky neon sign. Just a normal little shop, like any other. Normally this would be easy, I'd been shoplifting since I was twelve. Not that I'm proud of it. I'd joke about it, but I certainly took no pride in it. Shops that used barcodes were naturally harder to steal from, and nowadays about 99% did. Who'd be a kleptomaniac, huh?

I had my hood up, as was necessary for this sort of shit so I wouldn't get identified. Now, I needed to do it more than ever. Adjusting to life like this was... hard. In a word. It felt so surreal. I can't even begin to imagine how my mother must feel... not just about me, but about Sonic, too...

I was nervous. Very nervous. I felt like anything could go wrong at any given time. And if something did go wrong, well, I was finished. I'd planned this out as well as I could. Someone had parked their motorbike outside the shop, but hadn't chained it. My escape plan. The owner of said motorbike was currently in the shop, buying something I really didn't give two shits about. I had to be quick.

I walked into the shop, my head hung low as to not attract attention. There was one mobian besides me and one human in the shop - the human was the biker, the shopkeeper was a purple chameleon with a golden horn. He looked like he'd been working for days on end. I looked around for some bandages, my heart racing. If I got pulled now...

"Hey mate, how much are these?" The human asked the shopkeeper, holding a pair of headphones. He had a thick scouse accent, it was difficult to make out what he was saying.

"Those will cost you £49.99," The shop owner replied quietly.

"£49.99?! Are ya takin' the piss mate?!" He replied, incensed. To be honest, that was pretty cheap for those headphones, they looked top quality. Amid the commotion, I located the bandages and, taking a deep breath, pocketed them.

"I'm not arguing. Take them or leave them," The shopkeeper quietly responded. He must have been used to assholes like the one he was dealing with; he had barely flinched.

"Right then... ya not gonna sell 'em to me... how's about I fuckin' take em'?" The human said, whipping a bowie knife from out of his jacket. I held my breath. This wasn't my business. All I had to do was get the fuck out of here with some bandages, quick. Still, the shopkeeper wasn't fazed.

"Take them, or leave them," he repeated. His tone was bone chilling. The human growled and lunged at him over-arm with the knife, leaning over the counter to do so. However, the chameleon quickly grabbed his forearm and pulled him downwards before the knife could penetrate his scaly skin. As the human was dragged onto the counter, the shopkeeper took a step backwards, took hold of his assailant's head with both hands and kneed the biker squarely in the jaw, knocking him off his perch both figuratively and literally.

Walking around to the other side of the counter complacently, the shopkeeper grabbed the scouser by his collar and his arm, lifting him to his feet. Then, in one swift movement, he turned to the side and ducked, pulling the human's body over his own and onto the floor with a smack. A hip toss. This was clearly one chameleon you didn't mess around with. Nice shop I decided to steal from...

Then, my eyes caught something. Shining on the floor, next to the beaten up biker, were a pair of keys! They must have fallen out of his pocket during the fight. Talk about a stroke of luck. The shopkeeper rolled the unfortunate bastard onto his front, taking hold of his arm and began twisting it behind his back. This was it. Now or never.

As the wouldn't-be thief screamed with his arm being slowly snapped, the would-be thief (me) ran up to the keys, swept them up from off the floor as I was running and darted for the door. I went through the exit at my fastest possible speed, not looking back. The alarm wailed within the shop behind me, even managing drowning out the biker's howling cries of pain. As fast as I could, I hopped on the bike and fiddled with the key to fit it in the ignition. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as it roared into life, and I sped off. That could have been a lot rougher... Then, I looked back. My face fell. A purple blur was chasing me - the chameleon. Fuck.

I sped down the highway, narrowing my eyes in hope he wouldn't catch up. I wasn't wearing any protective gear - if he knocked me off this bike, I was sure to sustain some kind of injury. Some kind of injury that would leave me at this crazy chameleon's mercy...

I detected my chaser's quick feet behind me with my sensitive ears amidst the roar of the bike's engine, each step slightly louder than the last. I wasn't going to outrun him. I was going to have to fight this chameleon off. I reached into my jacket pocket, pulling out a two foot long steel chain I'd picked up earlier, spinning my hand around so it would wrap around my fist. I left about ten inches of locked metal dangling, to act as a makeshift flail.

I kept one eye on the wing mirrors, another on the road I was blazing down at 60mph. I watched as the purple flash edged closer and closer, biding my time, my grip tightening on the chain... that was close enough. I flicked my wrist backwards, without looking. I hoped I'd catch him in the eye or something, but all I hit was thin air.

I looked behind me, to see that he was now attempting to flank me from the side. Before I could adapt to his new tactics, he leapt into the air, then blasting towards me with a raised foot. I ducked with a split second to spare before his boot connected with my head. Again, now on my right side, he began approaching. My adrenaline levels were through the roof. One wrong move and I was done for. As he was within my striking perimeter, I swung with the chain again, across my body. This time, there was a connection. But for the wrong reason. I turned to see the chameleon had anticipated my attack - and caught the chain. With a tug, he yanked me backwards, my whole body jolting around. I was pulled clean off the bike, and as I hit the floor I felt my world come crashing down around me. An intense pain wracked my body as I bounced along the ground one, two, three times - each time infinitely more painful than the last.

I was laid out on the pavement in a crumpled heap, the chain still wrapped around my gloved hand. The glove's material was now heavily worn and strained from my - our struggles. I looked over to the bike in the distance, stuck in a bush. It wasn't badly damaged, but there was no way in hell I was getting it. I was too damaged and rattled to even stand. My struggles looked almost over - and defeat was imminent.

The chameleon stood over my barely conscious body, observing silently. He crouched on one knee, grabbing my hood. I tried to get him off me, but it was useless. I could hardly think straight, my brains were so scrambled. It couldn't end like this...

Forcefully, he flipped back my hood, as his eyes widened in shock. He opened his small mouth to speak -

"Manic Hedgehog..."

"Please... don't..." I pleaded with heavy fatigue. I covered my face and squeezed my eyes shut, expecting a rain of blows. I knew what Robotnik was making us look like. Monsters. Evil, soulless devils who needed to be condemned to the seventh pit of hell as soon as humanely possible.

But there were no blows. Confused, I opened my eyes slowly and separated my hands. I couldn't believe it. The chameleon had recognized me... but he wasn't trying to hurt me in any way. He was holding out his hand - to help me up.

At first, I stared at him for a second, my mouth agape, before taking hold of his hand. He lifted me to my feet, and I groaned in pain. But... this mobian was... assisting me?

"You are no killer," He said to me.

"W-wha?" I replied, groggily.

"A killer does not act like that. You were frightened stiff, and I apologize," He continued.

"Th-thank you," I said, weakly. "It s-seems not everyone's f-fallen for the propaganda."

"Hmph. Well, some of us. My name's Espio," He said quietly. "Tell me... I can tell you aren't a murderer, but then... who is? That I can't judge."

I explained to Espio our plight, everything we had gone through and all the evidence we had. Exe, Jet and Bean, the Chaos Emeralds, everything.

"Hmmm... that scumbag Robotnik will do anything to cover up his mistakes, no matter what. If your friend is as injured as you say, take the bandages. After a fight with Exe, he will need them."

"Personal experience?" I remarked.

"I wish. I'd love to put him in the ground. You enjoyed my demonstration earlier?" He laughed.

"Heh heh, yeah man. You put him in his place," I said back.

"Ah, I get people like him regularly. I welcome them, they give me something to take out my stress on," He said, making me laugh quietly again.

"So, Espio, umm... we could... really use someone like you in gaining our freedom. Would you be... interested?" I asked, off the cuff.

"Hmm... honestly, I would, injustice is a plague in this world, but... no, I cannot. I have a wife and family, not to mention the shop. My sincerest apologies, but I'm sure you understand, Manic," He replied. I immediately felt bad for asking. What would his interest be in freeing us? And now I'd made him apologize... damnit, Manic, pull yourself together man.

"No, no dude, it's fine. I understand, but could you at least... try and make the truth known?" I asked of him.

"...Again, I cannot. It could seriously endanger my life, you know how Robotnik is. I cannot risk that, if only for my family," He responded. There I go again with those selfish asks.

"Ok, ok. It really is fine, it's none of your business. I get it. But... thanks. Thanks for not turning me in, haha," I joked. But deep down I was serious. The bounty for just one of us was ridiculously high, I knew that.

"Haha... I truly wish I could help you further, but the only thing I can really offer you is this - my support. You have a believer in me. You can do this. And when you do, Robotnik will be exposed for the fraudulent tyrant that he is," he said, strongly. A smile formed on my face. And then I knew it wasn't just us against the world. Not everyone feared or despised us. There were people who saw through Robotnik's scandalous veil of deceit. This was a possibility. With that, I knew it was time to go.

"Thank you, Espio," I said.

"May the gods guide you. Whatever you may do, there is one thing I must insist - don't give up," He said. His powerful words had an incredible lasting effect for such a quiet mobian. I'll never forget them, ever.

( * * * )

I arrived back at the forest, trying to remain inconspicuous on the bike, still with Espio's strong words whirling around in my head. The morning sun was slowly rising, creating a red glimmer amongst the autumnal trees. Sonic, Shadow and Scourge were in the same exact spot, sat around a large rock next to a stream.

"Guys?" I said, catching their attention.

"Oh, hey Manic, ya get pussy-boy Shadow's band aid?" Scourge asked, mockingly.

"Shut up or you'll need more than a band aid. You'll need a fuckin' body bag," Shadow replied.

"Ok, ok, calm it Shadz, I was only joking man."

"Yeah, well, you try fighting Exe, see how you come off."

"Yeah, yeah, ok. By the way, nice bike, Manic man. Where'd ya steal that from?" Scourge joked. My kleptomania was pretty much common knowledge within the Quills, but they all accepted it.

"Heh... got it out of a car park. Hey, if it ain't nailed down, it's as good as mine." The group laughed, showing a rare moment of positivity in this battle for freedom.

"Um, here," I said, handing over the bandages.

"Thanks. Good going bro, how'd ya get 'em?" Sonic asked.

"Uh, well, I didn't actually steal 'em, believe it or not. This chameleon called Espio, the shop owner, recognized me and said we were being wronged by Robotnik. So, he gave me 'em for free," I said. I neglected to tell them the part where he chased me down and tried to kill me.

"Huh... so we're not completely on our own here then? We've actually got people who support us?" Scourge pondered.

"Heh, damn, yeah... but while we we're together, we're never on our own," Sonic said encouragingly.

"Yeah... We're not as fucked as we thought we were here. We can fuckin' do this, man!" He exclaimed. Scourge has come a long way over the past few days - how he resisted the temptation to shout 'ha, gayyy!' gave me a shock.

"Can you complete a sentence with saying the word 'fuck'?" Shadow asked. Well, he's still got a foul mouth, that's for sure.

"Way to kill the moment, Shadow. Jeez," Scourge responded.

"Sorry, but now that pep talk time's over, I thought I'd share a plan with you all," Shadow said, catching our attention.

"Ok, what ya got, Shadz?" Sonic asked.

"I haven't completely thought it out yet, but I know one thing," He said, holding the Chaos Emerald out in front of him, "I wouldn't want to be Bean or Jet at this point in time."


	9. Within The Veil

Chapter 9. Can't think of anything interesting to say, so bleh :P Took some effort to get this one out actually, I went back and changed it quite a few times, hopefully for the better :)

Werewolf99 - What's Scourge ever done to you? XD Btw, thanks for your constant support, it means loads :)

Sonamyloversega - Thanks :)

( * * * )

"The Emerald, yeah! Good thinking, Shadz!" Sonic praised. "You mean, so we can track those assholes?"

"Yeah, precisely. Ok... hmm. How does this..." Shadow said, pensively.

"What's up, Shadz?" Scourge asked.

"How does this thing work?" He wondered, audibly. He tapped the top of the Chaos Emerald with his index finger. No response. He shook it up and down. Again, no response.

"Here, give it here," Scourge insisted.

"No, get off. I'll figure it out," Shadow said, pushing him away while trying to maintain his concentration.

"Ok, you're the boss," Scourge said, backing down with his hands held up.

"Hmm... Chaos... locate?" Shadow said, pressing for a solution.

"Chaos... find?" Once again, the Emerald did nothing. Shadow was becoming impatient.

"Hmmm. Uh... Chaos... Spear," He said, the expectation in his voice detectably low. As soon as the last syllable left his mouth, his left hand suddenly lit up a startlingly bright yellow - and a foot-long glowing spike blasted out of his palm!

"FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Scourge screamed, scared out of his mind. Every one of us jumped out of our quills, including Shadow.

"Holy shit, Shadz..." Sonic uttered, breathing heavily.

"Heh... that oughta come in handy," Shadow remarked, his composure regained.

( * * * )

I stared at the fallen branch that Shadow's Chaos Spear had broken in two; it was still smouldering. Not dissimilar to the embers in my head actually. I was pretty, well, bored at this point. I tapped rhythmically with a pair of sticks on a flat rock absent-mindedly. Damn, I miss my drum kit, but not so much as my family and friends... Depressing thoughts are so difficult to avoid in this situation.

Half an hour had passed, and we were still no closer to finding any sort of answer to our current problem. After the little bit of fun he had earlier, Shadow's impatience was growing exponentially. He huffed angrily at every failed attempt, cursing all the way.

"Come on, you piece of shit, work!" Shadow barked.

"Shadow, man, I thought you knew stuff about these things! What's the matter?" Sonic asked.

"Shut up, faker, you don't a thing you're talking about," Shadow replied aggressively.

"Ok, ok, calm it. I just thought this kind of thing was your speciality."

"I've got a degree in Psychology and History, not a degree in Chaos Emeralds!"

"I didn't even know they did a course in Chaos Emeralds," Scourge intervened sarcastically.

"Well, you wouldn't know about it would you Scourge? You barely got out of kindergarten, you idiot," Shadow responded.

"Ok, ok, settle down ladies... let's remember what we're doin' here," Sonic interrupted. There was a pause.

"Uhh... Bean the Dynamite and Jet the Hawk," I said towards the Emerald, trying to eliminate all possibilities and to break the silence. As soon as I said it, the Emerald lit up. It flashed a bright green, before dimming - and within it was a clear, moving image of Jet the Hawk and Bean the Dynamite, driving their van. It was my first guess. Everyone looked at me, dumbfounded. The look on Shadow's face was priceless.

"Uhh... what can I say? Must be a psychic," I said with an aura of cockiness. I was just surprised as the others, but I couldn't resist an over-confident remark. I get more like Scourge every day.

"Ok! Nice one, bro!" Sonic said gleefully, peering into the emerald. "Hey, uh, can you... zoom out a little?" Sonic asked. He was right in asking, all we could see was the van.

"Uh, zoom out?" I tried. This time, though, nothing. Aw.

Shadow placed his index finger on top the emerald next to his middle finger, then parted them, as you would to zoom out on a smartphone - and lo and behold, it zoomed out.

"Better luck next time, Manic," He said, grinning. I did the same, Shadow never liked being wrong, but he accepted it as part of his nature. Shadow could take a joke, but he wouldn't allow anyone to go too far. Anyone who did ended up in A&E.

"Ok, so they're in... Central City, it looks like," Scourge remarked.

"Yep. Guess where we're headed?" Sonic answered.

"What? How do you propose we get all the way there with being ID'd, seriously?" Shadow responded.

"Uhh, I was hoping you'd use your Chaos Control."

"Oh. Right, about that. I didn't end up here on purpose, I barely knew what I was doing. And, I can't use it like that, it needs time to recharge after I use it once; around five or so minutes."

"Ok... damn."

"Alright then Shadow, when ya gonna let us have a go with the Emerald?" Scourge asked.

"Do you even understand what's going on here?" Shadow answered, with a sense of annoyance.

"Hey, calm it. I'm askin' whether we can check if we can use it, that's all."

"Ok," Shadow said, handing him the Emerald. "There you go. Happy?"

"Yeah..." Scourge said, getting to his feet. "Chaos... CONTROL!" Scourge commanded, slightly over the top. And, nothing happened.

"Yeah. I thought as much. You gonna hand that over now, Scourge?" Shadow said, revelling in Scourge's embarrassment.

"Hmph... Fine, here ya go, Manic. You next."

"Ok... Hey, is this safe?" I questioned.

"Probably not," Shadow replied.

"Right. Thanks." I stood up. "Chaos Control!" I waited... But nothing.

"Damn," I said.

"Come here, I know how it feels..." Scourge muttered, sulking slightly.

"Ok then bro, you have a go at it," I said, handing over the Emerald to Sonic.

"Right then... Here goes nothin'."

"Enough preening, Faker," Shadow heckled.

"Whatever, Shadz. Chaos... no. No, this isn't safe."

"What?! Are you kiddin' me? Come on, Sonic!" Scourge remarked.

"No, listen to me. Say it does work, and I've got no idea how to control it? I could end up on Robotnik's porch for all we know!"

"Eh, you're no fun these days." There was a pause, before Shadow opened his mouth.

"You know what Sonic, you're right. I ended up here by complete accident..." Shadow intervened.

"What's the point of having something ya can't use?" I added in agreement.

"We've got learn how to use it... But how?" Shadow wondered.

"Well, you two are the guys with the street info, what ya got?" Scourge said, turning to me and Shadow.

"Scourge, dude, I know about dirty dealers and one or two hitmen. I don't know about no Chaos Emerald dojos," I replied. I'd like to add that I only ever took party drugs (weed, things like that) on occasion and certainly never hired any hitmen, just incase you'd get the wrong impression. I'd done many things I wasn't proud of, but I wasn't a Bond villain.

"Anyone who'd know something about this would also be likely to turn us in, so it's probably pointless... probably," Shadow said. Suddenly, a thought ran into my head...

"Espio? He might know something..." I suggested.

"Espio? You mean that shopkeeper? How would he know anything?" Shadow questioned.

"I dunno, he just seemed... wise. He's not just another, if you know what I mean."

"Well, ok, but... surely seeing him again could put him and us in danger? Robotnik's got eyes everywhere," Shadow thoughtfully responded.

"Got any other ideas?" I asked, bluntly. Shadow paused.

"No... Not really. Anyone else?"

"Hey, you're the planner-guy. We're just here to nod in agreement," Sonic replied.

"Alright then. It's all we've got, so let's go for it. But first - I don't know about you guys, but I've been up all night running away from GUN, fighting the world's deadliest serial killer and sprinting 15 miles non-stop just to save some incompetent hedgehogs. I need some sleep, if you don't mind."

"Sleep? Where?" Sonic asked. Shadow motioned to the leaf-covered, mud-stained, mulch-plastered, soggy ground at his feet. Scourge looked heartbroken.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to rock bottom," He said pitifully.

( * * * )

3rd POV

( * * * )

"They still can't find them? Agh, no... it won't do. We can't lose them, Snively, we just can't..."

President Robotnik was a very clever man. Three degrees in University in Politics, Chemistry and Physics brought him onto complete a Master's course, which he finished through intense hard work. After receiving his diploma, the world around him was unlocked. He felt he could do anything...

So, he took up employment as a politician, slowly working his way up through the system, until one day he ran for his party's presidency - and won.

He was a kind man - always trying to take out time to spend with friends and family, always donating money to charities, always trying to do things for the people around him, not for himself. He looked perfect for presidency.

Unfortunately, the reality was quite different. In his first few months, one of his fellow politicians was caught drink driving, crashing into and killing a group of pedestrians. A nervous Robotnik handled it very badly, sheepishly attempting to defend his colleague to a highly negative public reaction.

Then there was the virus epidemic within his country. Once a vaccine was crafted, he sent it out to the richer regions first - the country needed the money quite desperately. The poor began dying at a rate he had not expected, tallying up to 17,398. The outcry devastated him.

Now? Now, there was this. One of the largest wild-goose chases in modern history; he was at the helm - and couldn't afford to lose.

"Ivo, GUN are doing all they can, but the hedgehogs still have that Emerald, I'm afraid," Snively said.

"I don't understand... No other president has had this luck, surely," He said, burying his face in his hands at his desk.

"All I've ever wanted to do is make other people happy... It's what I get the best kick out of, you know?" He sighed. "Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. I feel terrible either way... One way, I give up, expose the facts show and what a useless coward I've been, the other way I commit one of the greatest acts of injustice Mobius has ever seen. Maybe I should just resign..." He admitted, sullenly.

"...Do you want my honest opinion, Ivo?" Snively asked.

"Yes, I do. Go on."

"Ivo, you're my best friend and I trust no-one more than you, but... you weren't cut out for this. Your decision making has been questionable to say the least, and you've tried to do too many things at once. They've all been positive ideas, but the way you went about them was just, well, rash. You're a great man. You really are. But hear me now - if you ask me, take my advice and give it up. Save yourself, Ivo."

"...No. Snively, this is my problem, I'm going to sort it out." He stood up. "Whether I like it or not, I've got to catch those hedgehogs, and Exe too. Not the next guy - me," He said powerfully.

"Well, if that's how you feel, fine - I won't stop you. I've got a report from the GUN commander, actually, I almost forgot," Snively replied.

"Ah, very good. What does it say?"

"He's got a regiment building a new machine for capturing purposes in mind; it's around 50% complete, but the rest shouldn't take too long apparently."

"Yes, just as I ordered. Fantastic. I asked him to name it actually, what's he come up with?"

"Err... Oh, here. He calls it... Diablon."

( * * * )


	10. We're all Quills, aren't we?

Chapter 10, we've reached the decade mark. Kinda. Also, apologies for the short last two chapters, I'll start doing long ones again soon when college decides to stop being a dick.

Sonamyloversega - Thanks again for your support in particular, you deserve as much credit for this fic as I do.

( * * * )

Morning. Or, at least it was to us. In reality, it was 5pm, and we'd slept 11 whole hours. Quite impressive if you think about it, especially so due to that I'm pretty sure Sonic's an undiagnosed insomniac.

"Hah... You guys awake?" I asked.

"Yeah," I heard from Shadow, his hands behind his head. Beside him, stood up, was a rather disgruntled Scourge.

"Shit... shit... fuckin' damnit..." He said, bent over and trying to get all the leaves and mud from out of his quills.

"Heh heh heh, what's the matter Scourge?" I taunted.

"Me? I'm fine, but whatever you do, don't listen to this fucker's sleeping recommendations!" He growled, pointing at Shadow.

"Shut up, Scourge. It's only gonna get harder from here on out, so you've gotta deal with it," Shadow responded.

"Hmph... I know," Scourge said, submissively. At least he knew the gravity of our situation at hand.

"So, what do we do when we're talking to Espio?" Sonic piped up.

"We aren't, Manic is. We'll all go in case GUN ambushes us, so we can fight them off. Manic's the only one who knows him, so I thought it could work out easier like that. Not to mention, we'll be too easy to identify as a group," Shadow stated.

"But... aren't we travelling as a group anyway?"

"No. If we wanna get there, we're gonna have to split up."

"No way, come on! That's way too risky!" Sonic exclaimed.

"It's safer than staying as a group, I assure you. If we all conceal our faces up and keep quiet, it shouldn't be too difficult. We'll all arrive at around the same time near Espio's shop. Manic goes in, talks to him, gets the information we need. The rest of us stay outside, trying not to act suspicious. Sound good?"

"And if we get caught? What do we do, besides run?" Sonic asked. "What if Manic gets caught? He can't run like we can," He added.

"Because he's a fatass," Scourge butted in. Bastard.

"Eat a dick, Scourge."

"Heh heh heh."

"Can we focus on this, please? Unless you two want to be turned into tin cans on wheels?" Shadow intervened, forcefully. "It's not a risk free plan, no, but that's why I suggest we do it in the early hours of the morning. Less people, less risk."

"Yeah, ok. Hey, what happened to that gun I stole?" I asked.

"It's out of ammo, but I've still got it," Shadow replied, pulling it out of his quills. "Hey, if it had ammo, I'd have used every last bullet on Exe anyway, so what were you expecting? It's useless at the moment, unless you want to go steal some lead."

"Steal from a gun shop? You've gotta be shittin' me," I said in refusal.

"Hey, come on, I'd do it!" Scourge claimed.

"Ok then, do it!" I retorted.

"No!" Was Scourge's response.

"Yeah, ok Scourge. Whatever you say."

"Ok, ok, handbags away, ladies," Sonic said, silencing us. He went over to Shadow to further discuss what we were going to do, but then a few seconds later, Scourge shuffled over to me.

"...Manic, dude, you know... I'm only joking with ya this whole time, right?" He said.

"Huh? Of course I do Scourge, what makes ya think I don't?"

"It's just... you acted genuinely pissed off there. I don't want you to think of me badly with all this goin' on; you're one of my best friends, y'know? Hell, if it weren't for you in particular, I'd be sniffing glue in an alleyway somewhere, waiting to get knifed for my clothes. You mean a lot to me..." He spoke.

"Heh... Scourge, man, don't worry about it. Sorry if I snap at ya dude, it's just..." I turned to see Shadow looking at me. "It's fine, man."

"Ok, we're not going yet, but we will at about 2am. We need four individual paths to Espio, each setting off and arriving at different times. Make it roughly six minute interludes, not a round number," Shadow stated.

"Um, Bro, we need you again. Can ya steal us some hooded jackets, plus one for yourself, because you've been wearing that one for a while?" Sonic asked of me.

"Hey, I'd rather be making myself useful than sitting around for GUN to make mincemeat of my ass," I answered, though not entirely truthfully.

"Ok, how long will you be?" Shadow asked.

"Uh, about 45 minutes, Shadz. Maybe longer, I dunno."

( * * * )

44 minutes later, I returned to the forest with four hooded jackets, a beanie and a pair of leather fingerless gloves. I wasn't planning to wear any of it (besides a hoodie), it's just that sometimes I can't help myself.

"Umm... happy hunting?" Sonic questioned, bemused at the amount of 'extras' I'd collected.

"You bet. Easiest steal ever!" I celebrated. It really was, to be honest. No scanners, no guards, no nothing. I actually felt pretty bad afterwards, but such is life.

"Ok, so you got four jackets, what's the other shit for?" Scourge asked, gesturing to the beanie and gloves.

"Oh, I... kinda got carried away," I said, rubbing the back of my head and grinning sheepishly.

"Heh. Good to know you haven't changed, bro," Sonic said.

"Heh heh heh... Ok, what're we gonna do until 2am? That's eight hours y'know," I stressed.

"Yeah I know, I can count, Manic," Shadow replied.

"Uhh, anyone got a good story? Preferably one that lasts eight hours?" Sonic put out.

"Um, I might do," Scourge answered.

"Is about the amount of 'bitches' you've 'had'? If so, I'll answer that - none," Shadow intervened.

"Whatever, Shadz. It's not like you can talk about that shit, anyway."

"That's what you think."

"Woah, woah! Is there somethin' you're not telling us here, Shadz?" Scourge pressed, exuberantly.

"Heh heh... Could be."

"Ok, Shadow, who was it? Wait, it wasn't...?" Sonic questioned, and I'm pretty sure everyone knew who he was talking about. Shadow nodded.

"Holy shit! You and Rouge? Damn!" Scourge exclaimed.

"It was nothing really, we were both drunk. We didn't go all the way either, she just..."

"She just what? C'mon, Shadow!" Scourge asked interrogatively.

"Nah. I'm gonna let you guess."

"Ok... did she -"

"BJ?" I interrupted. Shadow turned to me. "...yes." Uproar ensued. Despite our childish antics, for a minute, we weren't on the run as Mobius' most wanted. We didn't have a glorified private army trying to locate and kill us. We didn't have a psychotic killer on our trail. We were just four best friends having a good time.

( * * * )

"Ok, I spy, with my little eye..."

"Faker, no one wants to play I spy, and no one ever will. It's nearly 2am now, and I'm pretty sure time goes slower when you talk."

Well, that had been a strangely normal eight hours... That feeling of forgetting our troubles certainly lasted a while. But damnit, now reality had returned - and I was ready for it.

"Ok, shotgun on the black hoodie," Scourge exclaimed.

"Shotgun dark red," I said, even red and green didn't really go. You think I cared at this point? In putting it on, I grabbed the beanie and fingerless gloves. I didn't steal them to leave them, y'know.

"I really couldn't give less of a shit, so go ahead and take what you want, Faker," Shadow sighed, perhaps in anticipation of how easily we could be caught in this next outing.

Sonic grabbed a grey hoodie, leaving Shadow with the dark blue one. He put it on nonchalantly then turned to the group, opening his mouth.

"Ok guys - you know what to do. Six minutes interludes, don't turn up at a time that ends in a five or a zero. Make sure ya take a different route to everyone else and when ya get there, act as natural as humanely possible. Bro, you go in and talk to him, get the info we need and get out. Don't spend any more time than you need to. Ya got all that?" He stated.

"What about my bike?" I asked.

"Uhh... You don't mind, do ya?" Sonic replied.

"What, you mean we're leavin' it?"

"Nah, I mean, can I use it? You've been on it in public before."

"...fine, but it's still mine," I said. Brotherly love, huh?

"Ok, we all ready now?"

"Yeah," Shadow murmured powerfully.

"You bet," Scourge answered.

"Ready, bro," I finished.

"Good. Let's do this shit."


End file.
